shuhaige
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
23 Angrily Making Out
“Look!” he said, showing me his phone’s screen where he told Mariyah that he could not see her anymore because he had found a mate. I did see her respond back to him and bombard him with a dozen questions, and soon after that, he was off to have dinner with his siblings. It was still not safe for him to be in my room because his siblings didn’t like me, so he told me to keep it a secret for now. I walked out of my room to have dinner with them for the first time after my mother left.
The dining room was so awkwardly silent when I walked in. Akin must have returned from work just now because he hadn’t taken off his suit. Helel had taken a shower, so he must have been working out before coming to dinner.
“The school is remaining off for a few days.” Akin was the first one to break the silence and talk to Zane. Obviously, he didn’t mean to speak to me, but I got the idea that I would not be attending school for some days. Why? I didn’t care. I didn’t like studying, anyway.
“What happened?” Helel questioned, digging his fork into the forest he had collected on the plate. He was a big fan of salads and proteins.
“I got a call earlier from their principal, telling me that the top part of the school’s building collapsed out of nowhere. I have agreed to aid the school in rebuilding it, but until then, online classes are an option,” Akin explained the situation to Helel. Since I had been sleeping most part of the day after school, I didn’t know what went down there.
“Yeah! It was the craziest thing. The building began to shake and the upper part got covered with so much fog that nobody could tell if something crashed into it or what happened. Thankfully, the fog helped the teachers clear the school
before the disaster, and no casualties happened.” Zane then gave us more information about the accident. I didn’t care if anything happened to the school. A school is a terrible place, anyway.
“Which reminds me of a weird complaint the principal made. Beatrice! You ran out of school without telling anyone?” That was it. I was getting called out for my behavior. I watched Akin question me and tap his fingers on the table. With how he was always on my back and nagging me for not taking my studies seriously, he was beginning to resemble a stern teacher rather than my stepbrother or an alpha king.
“You left school?” Helel turned to me, taking interest for the first time. Zane raised his eyes at his brother and then sneakily looked my way. He seemed to read our body language.
“I don’t like school,” I answered, lowering my face and shoving pasta in my mouth so that they wouldn’t bother me into answering. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
“It is not a picnic place. You need to study in order to build a future for yourself.” Akin’s voice sounded harsher this time. I stopped eating when he slammed his fist on the table because he didn’t like my response.
“Everybody bullies me in school,” I then explained. I wasn’t being a brat or a lazy bum. I had a solid reason for not wanting to like school.
“That’s why you now have Zane in school with you.” Akin didn’ t calm down. He was scolding me while Helel had stopped eating completely at this point.
“Zane! Did you tell everyone that she is now your
stepsister?”It was then that Akin took one step ahead and asked Zane, who looked lost for a moment. It turned awkward.
“I don’t want anybody to know that my father has moved on,” Zane said while he stole eyes from everyone. I’m not sure if he was telling the truth or if he was just trying to avoid having to introduce me as
his stepsister.
“Zane! That is nonsense. Dad has made his decision. Mom has left years ago. There is no need to force dad to stay with her if he doesn’t want to.” Akin has changed his mind from the first time he saw my mother. I remained silent and let the brothers deal with it.
“So you accepted her mother as your stepmother?” Zane let out a little laugh when asking his brother. It was almost as if he was in disbelief that his brother was suggesting they accept us. If he was acting, he looked very convincing.
“I am not accepting her as my stepmother. We are too grown up to even call her our mother now. But Beatrice is our responsibility, even if you like it or not,” Akin and Zane seemed to be glaring into each other’s eyes. Where Akin was sitting straight in his chair, Zane had his body leaning back and his legs stretched out while his chair was tilting outward.
“Do you understand what that means? It means there is no room left for mom. Once her mother takes over, mom is out of the picture.” Zane clenched his jaw but didn’t want to stick
from around and shed the tear shining in his eye. He got up the seat and marched upstairs without even finishing the conversation. Akin didn’t stop him either, but since I felt awkward, I steadily got up from my seat and sneaked out of the dining room to be in my room for the rest of the night.
I had just made my way into my room and was about to shut the door when Zane came through. I stepped out of his way in shock while he locked the door.
“Zane!” I gasped, watching him turn around and stare at me for a moment before he wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me over his chest. It happened so quickly that if he hadn’t pushed me against the wall, I would have tripped and fallen. Before I could ask him about his motives, he had dug his face into my neck and started kissing me all over my chest and neck.